He moved closer and was shocked to see it was Ikehorn! Roy told him he thought the Fae was dead. Henry looked around but there were only a few other people around, and none were looking his way.
The second reason he was shocked was that the Fae were in a sort of self-imposed lockdown. Their Queen had broken some important Hidden Races laws, abused treaties, and was locked away in her castle in Ireland, unwilling to communicate with anyone or answer for these things. The Fae Race were operating on a work to rule and house arrest basis to reduce tensions as they waited for word from Mab.
He walked over to the bench and stared down at the man. He didn’t look so good. “Ikehorn?”
He got a brief nod. “Help me,” the Fae sighed.
“What can I do?” Henry asked. “Do you need money?”
“I need to heal my wounds. Mab… I healed her. Then she fired me. As a goodbye present, she stabbed me,” the healer rasped.
Henry felt a flare of his rage. That bitch needed killing. Not that he had the power to do it. Even Baba may not have that ability at this point. His heart sank as he realized he no longer had the means to help Ikehorn. He hadn’t shared that with anyone, least of all a Fae. What was that about deals and the Fae? Maybe he could frighten him off by demanding a favor. Then he wouldn’t have to disclose the truth.
“If I do you this favor you will owe me. Big time,” Henry bluffed.
Ikehorn looked at Henry in surprise. Then his face fell. He nodded weakly. “I deserve that. I just want to go home. Someone is waiting for me there. Someone important. I will owe you anything you ask. Just help me get home.”
Henry suddenly felt like a creep. Ikehorn was in love and just wanted to live so he could be with his loved one. He hung his head in shame.
“What’s wrong?” Ikehorn asked.
“I’m so sorry. I was trying to scare you off so I wouldn’t have to tell you.” Henry looked around again, but they were alone. He looked into Ikehorn’s confused eyes. “I no longer have the ring that’s linked to the healing spell. I can’t pull the healing magic to me,” he whispered.
Ikehorn’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “I thought it was bonded to the bone. Your hand seems fine.”
Henry sighed. He was going to have to tell the whole story. Inexplicably, he trusted this Fae, even after all the shit they’d experienced. He sighed. “Baba cut the finger off and the same finger from Mab’s old body. She swapped the fingers and bound them to us. Then she took my daughter.”
Ikehorn blinked at him. “So… the ring is still on your finger, but the finger isn’t on your body?”
Henry considered that and nodded. “Yes, it’s on Mab’s old body. The one our daughter is trapped in,” he explained. A shiver ran down his spine, and his rage suddenly surged. He fought it back and took some deep breaths to calm himself.
Ikehorn was staring out at nothing as he worked on a solution. He turned to look at Henry. “Sympathetic Magic. You can reach her through her finger. And she can reach you with yours. I don’t know if it will work, but you may be able to draw on the healing energy through this link to her. Would you be willing to try?”
He stared at the desperate man and slowly nodded.
“We begin by making a connection to Mab’s old body through her finger.” He stared into Henry’s eyes. “If this is painful at first, push through it. You only need to set it once.”
Ikehorn took a deep breath and held his hands over Henry’s right. He muttered a few words and pushed with his will.
Henry’s finger felt like it was coming off, in a fire. He swallowed his scream.
“Don’t move,” Ikehorn said then muttered the words again.
The pain struck again, but this time there was… an echo? Was that pain going to his daughter as well? “Wait-”
The Fae spoke again, and the pain shot through his finger. An equal pain returned from… elsewhere.
“Stop! Don’t! She’s just a baby! She doesn’t deserve this pain!” Henry said trying to move his hand, but it froze in place. The pain suddenly faded, and his hand moved freely once more.
“It’s done. Call out to your daughter. Let her hear her father’s voice,” Ikehorn said, slumping on the bench, his face ashen.
Henry looked at the Fae in concern then looked to his finger. “Just speak aloud?”
The Fae looked at him like he was dense. “No, not your actual voice. Hold your finger to pass along the sensation of touch and will your voice to her.”
Henry followed the instructions and apologized to her for causing her pain. He sent her his love and felt something in return. A motion and a sound. The lightest brush of a mind which felt like nothing more than the momentary focus of attention. Then a light, tentative touch. He concentrated very hard and felt wet and teeth. “She’s teething! The finger is in her mouth!” Henry gasped then he couldn’t see as tears filled his eyes. He struggled to hold back his emotions as relief, joy, and sorrow crashed through him.
“I used too much energy. Mab always told me I was sloppy with my spells.” He painfully sighed as he thought of the Queen… who stabbed him… and left him to die. Who told him with a cruel smile as he lay on the grass bleeding out, that she’d fed Bronagh to her Ogres. The pain of that was finally dull, and he shook his head slightly as none of it mattered right now. “I must try the healing. I’m too weak to do it myself. Will you try to pull the healing spell to our location and lend me your strength?”
Henry looked away from his finger into the pained expression on the Fae’s face. “Will it hurt the baby?” He dabbed at his eyes with a tissue from his pocket.
Ikehorn frowned. “Did it hurt when you pulled the healing magic to you?” Henry shook his head. “It’s the same for her.”
“Ok, let’s try. Should we go inside?” Henry asked nervously.
Ikehorn shook his head. “If I move, I bleed out. What little healing I managed was insufficient and is failing. I must do it here… and now,” he said breathily as his brow furrowed.
Henry did one more visual scan of the area around them, and it was as clear as it was going to get. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the ring on his finger, imagining it was still on his body. When he felt that synchronize to his nervous system, he reached for the magic and… it came! He opened his eyes and saw Ikehorn watching him collect the green light with a desperate, hungry expression. Henry pulled harder, and the area around them began to glow with the green light. He mentally pushed it to the Fae who greedily accepted it. The light flashed, and Henry found himself on his butt on the ground a few feet away.
Ikehorn took a deep breath and finally relaxed as the pain was gone. He slowly stood and straightened his jacket. He closed his eyes, and a new glamor appeared over his dirty clothes. Then he moved to helped Henry to his feet and shook his hand.
“Thank you, Henry. What can I offer you in return?”
Henry shook his head. “You’ve already done it. You gave me a link to my daughter and proof of life. Consider the debt repaid,” he said sincerely.
The Fae watched him for a moment then bowed deeply. “I don’t believe we will meet again, so I hope you find peace and contentment in your life.”
Henry nodded to the Fae. “Good luck in your life as well, Ikehorn. Be careful out there.”
With a final nod, Ikehorn walked away and soon vanished from sight.
Henry suddenly felt the creepy sensation of being watched, so he briskly walked towards his building. The feeling didn’t leave him until he was inside the front door and he looked back. He just caught the trailing edge of a tall man dressed in black, walk around the corner of the building across the street. Maybe the man had been watching him, but he couldn’t tell.
Shaking the feeling from his shoulders, he headed inside. He had a dinner party to attend, and his mood had improved dramatically. While he couldn’t share it, he had some good news!
His daughter was alive!
-=-
The Pixie Observer hiding in the tree above the bench leapt into the sky in her pigeon disguise and flew towards Manhattan as fast as her wings could carry her. From what she’d overheard from her vantage point, she had significant news to bring to Minister Hoek!